Turn Your Cell Phone Screen into a Solar Panel with Wysips’ Transparent Film

We’re no strangers to solar-powered cell phones. Umeox unveiled a solar-power Android just last month, and Samsung has launched three different varieties over the last couple years. These models come with built in solar-energy capabilities, but a small French technology company called Wysips has created a new technology that would allow any cell phone to use solar power. They designed a thin, transparent, photovoltaic film that is placed on a phone’s screen to continuously top off a gadget’s charge using only the sun.

The coating is incredibly thin, less than 100 microns deep, and contains strips of transparent photovoltaic cells laid on the screen that capture enough solar energy to produce electricity. On top of the cells is a layer of cylindrical lenticular lenses, which allow the user to see the light from the screen undistorted. It would not affect touch-screen abilities. According to Wysips, the coating can charge a typical cell phone battery in about six hours with constant direct sunlight, but it would take longer indoors.

With the coating, you would need to plug your cell phone in way less. Instead, just let it sit on your desk like you normally do and it will charge itself. Plus, it would allow phone companies to create slimmer batteries meaning slimmer, greener, devices. Wysips designed the coating so it can be tailored to any device — not just cell phones. They hope to see the technology implemented into tablets and e-readers as well. They are already working on a next-generation model, which would allow 30 to 60 minutes of talk time from an hour of charging.